The concerns of contract teachers in remote areas of Dak Nong

Graduated from Chemistry Pedagogy, Saigon University, teacher Trinh Thi Thanh Thuy (25 years old), living in Gia Nghia city, has been working at Le Huu Trac Secondary and High School, Dak Ngo Region 3 Commune, Tuy Duc Border District, Dak Nong Province. For more than a year, Ms. Thuy has been teaching under a labor contract stipulated in Decree 111 of 2022 of the Government. The school is in a remote area, nearly 100% of the students are ethnic minorities, and the school facilities are lacking. Meanwhile, the salary of just over 6 million VND/month and the contract period of only 9 months during the school year are not enough to meet the living needs of the young teacher.

Teaching in Dak Ngo Region 3 Commune, Tuy Duc Border District, Dak Nong Province, teacher Trinh Thi Thanh Thuy does not receive any benefits other than a salary of more than 6 million VND/month.

Teacher Trinh Thi Thanh Thuy said: “Currently, we only sign a 9-month contract, which means during the school year. Actually, it is difficult because our house in Gia Nghia is more than 50km away, the distance is far, and the income level does not meet our expectations. I also hope to have more support in some policies such as gas and also hope to have more teachers, because my school is lacking teachers.”

Teacher Nguyen Thi Dung hopes to have a stable income to stay with Quang Hoa commune, Dak Glong district, Dak Nong province, the land where she was born.

After 4 years of teaching in Ho Chi Minh City, teacher Nguyen Thi Dung has moved to teach at Quang Hoa Secondary School, Quang Hoa Commune, Dak Glong District, Dak Nong Province since the beginning of this school year. Born and raised in Quang Hoa, the young teacher wants to return to her hometown to help children in a particularly disadvantaged commune. Due to the lack of staffing quotas, Ms. Dung is also teaching under a short-term contract as stipulated in Decree 111 of 2022 of the Government, with a salary of more than 6 million VND and a contract period of 9 months. Loving the profession and choosing to stay in remote areas, Ms. Dung hopes that the State will make more suitable adjustments for contract teachers and pay more attention to investing in the education sector in remote areas.

“In a region like this, teachers certainly face many difficulties in their work. When I returned here, in the land where I was born, I had the passion and love for my homeland, so I thought I could do it. I also hope that the government will pay more attention to the local education situation, because it is still very difficult here. For myself, I also hope that the contract period will be longer, about 12 months, when the economy is stable, we will be more secure in our work,” said Ms. Dung.

The problem is that when teaching in particularly difficult areas, contract teachers do not enjoy preferential treatment. This creates a huge income gap between contract teachers and permanent teachers even though they teach at the same school.

Attracting teachers to communes in region 3 is difficult, retaining teachers is even more difficult, so preferential policies and more suitable incentives for contract teachers are needed.

Mr. Nguyen The Hiet, Principal of Le Huu Trac Secondary and High School (Dak Ngo Commune, Tuy Duc District, Dak Nong Province) analyzed: the school belongs to a commune in Region 3, so current teachers are entitled to a 70% allowance, initially attracting 10 months of basic salary, along with an additional attraction policy of 70% implemented in the first 5 years. In fact, teachers in the school have a salary of around 20 million VND/month, while contract teachers only have a salary of over 6 million VND for only 9 months. According to Mr. Nguyen The Hiet, attracting teachers to communes in Region 3 is difficult, retaining teachers is even more difficult. Therefore, the State needs to make appropriate adjustments.

“The school is short of 8 teachers and has signed contracts with 5 teachers under Decree 111. All teachers want to contribute and stay with the school for a long time. In the long term, we hope to provide the school with more staff so that contract teachers can take exams and pass the exam to stay with the school for a long time,” said Mr. Hiet.

This school year, Dak Nong province is short of nearly 1,600 teachers.

This school year, the entire Dak Nong province lacks nearly 1,600 teachers. Mr. Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Dak Nong province, said that the shortage of teachers has greatly affected teaching and learning, especially in remote, isolated and ethnic minority areas. To temporarily solve the problem, the province has assigned the sector 622 contract quotas according to Decree 111 of 2022 of the Government. These contract quotas have significantly contributed to partially solving the local teacher shortage.

However, currently, the income is quite low and the contract period is short (9 months) which does not guarantee the life of contract teachers. Therefore, even if there are contract quotas, it is difficult to attract teachers, especially in some subjects such as IT, English, and in particularly difficult areas.

Mr. Phan Thanh Hai said: “When implementing contracts under Decree 111, it can be said that the salary level is not satisfactory to encourage contract teachers, especially in remote areas. The Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee are also planning to build a Resolution to attract the province's characteristics in remote areas when contracting under this Decree.”

Teaching in remote areas is a difficult choice, but with a love for the profession, many teachers are still dedicating their youth to the cause of education in Dak Nong. While the Central Government has not yet arranged and allocated enough staffing quotas, the local authorities and functional agencies need to consider soon to have appropriate policies to help teachers feel secure in their work.

Source: https://vov.vn/xa-hoi/noi-niem-giao-vien-hop-dong-o-vung-sau-dak-nong-post1122713.vov